Perfect Team
by FallenWing21
Summary: He didn't expect to be carrying her body quickly towards the village. He also didn't expect her to be laughing in the situation she was in as she tried to heal herself. But in the end, he thought that they'd make a great team. Friendly banter and all. SakuShika.
1. Mission 1: Scroll

**Hello readers! I assume that you also fell for this crack pairing just as I did...I feel like they would really make a great pair.**

 **This story is just about how I thought they act if they were on a mission with each other. I thought it would be really cute, so I wrote it out!**

 **Hope you all enjoy~**

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"Just a little closer…"

The shadow of a tree flickered and stretched out, slowly crawling towards its intended target. Shikamaru held his hands in his seal, kneeling steadily on the branch of the tree.

The target was the leader of a gang of rogue shinobi. He had apparently stolen a valuable scroll from one of the royal clans. The Hokage sent them out to retrieve it.

Them, you ask?

Shikamaru's glanced up to see Sakura taking her position in the shadows of the trees a few meters away from the target. She gave him the signal that she was all set. Looking back at the still opponent, who was in the process of searching the two of them out, Shikamaru smirked as the shadow took possession.

"W-wait, huh?!" the rogue ninja exclaimed in surprise as he was held in place.

"Success." Shikamaru murmured before he met Sakura's gaze and nodded. "Sakura, now!"

The pink haired kunoichi created a series of hand seals and leapt off the branch she was perched on. As she descended on the opponent, a series of clones appeared beside her. Going in for the attack, she noticed the rogue try to bring his hands together. Landing a kick down on the ninja's head, she followed through with a series of punches to his torso. When he didn't react in pain, Sakura narrowed her eyes and jumped back, hesitant.

"What's going on...What's he doing?" Shikamaru observed from behind as the two of them watched his movements closely.

Sakura clenched her fists when she saw the ninja shift his head suddenly. When he lifted his head, there was a seal on his forehead akin to a paper bomb. The kunoichi widened her eyes.

"Paper bomb!" She warned as she was about to take cover. Shikamaru stiffened at this and was about to cover his face himself when he saw the ground around Sakura's feet crack slightly.

"Sakura! Below you!" he yelled as he was about to leap towards her.

The kunoichi barely had time to react as the bomb went off and one of the ninjas from the group exploded out of the ground. She had a second to tilt her head back before the fist could strike her. As the blast of the bomb hit her, she did a back flip away from her opponent only to feel dozens of presences below her.

The smoke of the bomb obscured Shikamaru's vision as he searched for the pink haired kunoichi from the trees. Then he heard the ground break and the clashing of kunai. When he caught the sight of pink hair in the clearing smoke, he was about to meet up with her when the ground began to shake. The blast of strength blew the smoke back to reveal a circle of rogue ninja lying in between the broken up land with Sakura at the middle.

Sakura straightened herself as Shikamaru landed on the ground and made his way towards her.

"Nice one," he greeted as he took a look at the damage she had done. "But still no scroll."

"Yeah, no leader either." Sakura replied as she cracked her knuckles.

"I guess he got us." Sakura said as she began to approach Shikamaru. She was about to take a step over the unconscious bodies when she felt a chakra signature behind her.

Suddenly she moved to the side without her control and dodged the sword that was thrown her way. The man who had thrown it groaned in pain before collapsing. Sakura blinked at where she was and turned to Shikamaru to see the relieved look in his eye as he released the shadow possession.

"Thanks for that," she said as they both began to walk back towards the small village they stopped at.

"Troublesome, but you ended up alive didn't you?" Shikamaru retorted with a light laugh. He saw Sakura laugh for a moment and then suddenly distort.

Shikamaru furrowed a brow in confusion. He watched her for a moment before she suddenly threw a barrage of kunai towards him.

"Oi, Sakura!" He began as he dodged her attack. "What are you—"

"Release!"

Shikamaru halted in his steps at the sound of Sakura's piercing voice, looking around. Then he saw the world around him begin to fade away, the circle of bodies that had been there, disappearing. What he now saw was the back of the pink haired kunoichi. He then noticed the chunk of side that was missing where her hand was currently healing.

"S-Sakura your..." He began, seeing her look over her shoulder in surprise.

"Ah, Shikamaru! You made it back in one piece." Sakura said with a small smile, her eyebrows furrowed in pain. "You were in a genjutsu just now. That man caused it as soon as I had managed to snatch that damn scroll from him."

Shikamaru glanced over her shoulder to see the leader of the rogue group standing a good distance from her with a look of satisfaction on his face. Then he blinked at his surroundings to see the jagged piece of stone on the ground next to him. It was covered in blood.

"While I was getting you out of the illusion, he somehow pulled one up on me." Sakura said through heavy breaths. Shikamaru moved out from behind her to her side and saw the pool of blood by her feet.

"We're gonna have to finish this quick, Shikamaru." Sakura added on as she did a series of hand seals, the green chakra around her hand becoming thicker. She held the chakra to the hole in her side, the chakra sticking to it, stopping the bleeding momentarily.

"Are you sure? Can you move?" Shikamaru inquired as he fell into a stance, his eyes looking at the wound warily.

"Of course I can! I'll lead him to you." Sakura said before taking off, coming at the rogue at a high speed.

Sakura ducked under the punch that he sent and made a move to kick his feet out from under him. As he jumped, she twisted to the side to avoid the kick he sent and pushed up on her feet to send a chakra filled punch towards him. When her fist was avoided, she felt his foot slam into her side, resulting in her yell and stumbling to her knees, breathing heavily.

As she blinked red from the pain, she saw Shikamaru's shadow possess the rogue's and snake up his body, keeping him immobilized.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru gave the signal.

Summoning everything she had, Sakura took a deep breath and slammed a chakra filled punch into the man's stomach. As he fell to his knees, dead, Sakura almost collapsed into the ground but put her hands out to catch herself.

Shikamaru reached her side, a hand at the small of her back.

"Hang in there, Sakura!" He said as he saw her arms tremble. She wouldn't be able to hold herself up anymore.

"Get to the village," she softly said as Shikamaru picked her up in his arms and darted in the direction of it.

"Right. Stay awake, you hear? Troublesome woman," he said under his breath. He heard her laugh slightly and thought this was a ridiculous time to be laughing.

"I'm not gonna die, Shikamaru," she quietly said, her hand trying to heal the wound as they went.

"Still. I get that the Hokage wanted the two of us here because we were her two smartest, but this?" Shikamaru scoffed softly as he glanced down at the pink haired woman. Her face was growing pale.

"If I need a blood transfusion, you're giving your blood to me." Sakura said with a small smirk on her lips. Her eyes were blinking slower.

Shikamaru moved faster. The village was coming into sight.

 **-.-**

When Sakura woke, she was overwhelmed by the light over her eyes and shut them again. Opening them slowly, she squinted as she grew accustomed to the light and glanced around to see that there was an IV drip beside her. Turning her head, she saw Shikamaru leaning over his knees, his forehead leaning against his locked hands.

He was sleeping.

Smiling to herself, Sakura moved her hand to her injured side to see that it was bandaged. Ah, so he had gotten her here in time. Relishing in the silence, Sakura glanced at Shikamaru again to see that he was about to lean forward off the chair. Stretching her arm out to catch him, she bit her lip at the pain but let out a laugh as the Jounin in front of her shifted forward. His eyes opened wide as he caught himself just as Sakura's outstretched hand smacked him in the face.

"Uh…." Shikamaru began as Sakura let out a chuckle. His head shot up in surprise to meet Sakura's amused expression. "You're up. Thank Kami." He said as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in.

"So did you end up having to give me blood like I said?" Sakura asked as she pulled back her arm, wincing slightly.

"Yeah, a bit." Shikamaru said with a laugh. "Troublesome as it was."

"Oh! The scroll! Did you get it before I passed out?" the pink haired kunoichi said as she tried to sit up, only to stiffen and lie back down.

"Yeah, it's here." Shikamaru replied as he pulled it from his pouch, handing it to her. "Try not to move so much."

Sakura grasped the scroll in her hands and raised it above her head, a look of wonder in her eyes. She could only think about the contents inside.

"Listen Sakura,"

She put down her arms and turned her head curiously to see Shikamaru scratching the side of his cheek, self-consciously. His cheeks were a tinge of pink as he kept his gaze to the floor.

"About the genjutsu…thanks for that," he said after a few moments of struggling, an embarrassed smile across his lips.

"No problem, Shikamaru!" Sakura replied with a bright smile. "You got caught in the genjutsu so I had to get you out." She said as she looked at Shikamaru who still wouldn't look up.

"Yeah, you attacked me out of nowhere. It was weird." He muttered under his breath as his pink cheeks faded and he looked up.

"The day I attack Shikamaru Nara is the day I've signed my death." Sakura said with a laugh. She caught his cheeks going red again. She thought it was cute.

He looked like he was going to say something but was interrupted when the door of the small room they were in suddenly opened. A woman in a white lab coat came in with a clipboard, noticing that Sakura was awake as she lifted her head.

"Ah, good that you're awake. You barely made it here too." The doctor said as she gave a glance towards Shikamaru before meeting Sakura's gaze. "You've got about another day of rest, but you can move around slowly. The healing that you had done before you got here helped reduce the severity of the injury, but you still have to recover."

The doctor tossed a bottle of medication towards Shikamaru, who caught it easily.

"Meds for the pain. You can stay here for a few more hours if you'd like." She said with a small smile, bowing slightly before leaving the room.

"So….you hungry?" Shikamaru asked as he handed Sakura the bottle of medication.

"Starving!" Sakura said with a cheerful smile.

During Sakura's recovery, Shikamaru got to spend a lot more time with her than usual. They spent time eating, discussing theories, and ultimately teasing each other to no end. It was overall an enjoyable time for him and he had no doubt that Sakura was also having a good time.

When they got back to the Leaf village and delivered the scroll back to the Hokage, there was no doubt in his mind that the two of them would hang out more.

A week later, they were called into the same room for yet another mission.

"You'll be investigating a group that has the tendency to hijack cruise ships." The Hokage said to them.

"Cruise—"

"—ships?"

The two of them said in astonishment, first looking at the Hokage, then at each other.

They both grinned widely.

Then the Hokage scolded the both of them.

Their mission would definitely have its surprises.

 **-.-**

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 **There we are! I hope you liked it. They're so cute.**

 **I don't know if I'll write the cruise ship story, but I'll see! Maybe if I think about it more.**

 **-FallenWing21**


	2. Mission 2: Cruise Ship

**Hello again my readers! Sorry it took me a month to finish this. But it's finally done! :) I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Overall, this was just a take on how I'd see Sakura and Shikamaru interact when in the face of a huge cruise ship. Hehe.**

* * *

"You leave tomorrow." The Hokage said with a slight annoyed expression on her face. Her eyebrow was twitching as she saw the two shinobi in front of her grinning widely at each other.

It was the mention of cruise ships that did it.

"I trust that you _won't_ fool around while on this mission?" She asked as she saw them straighten their bodies and put their arms by their sides.

"No ma'am!" Sakura and Shikamaru replied with serious expressions in their eyes.

"...good. Now go!" She ordered, seeing them flinch before bowing and exiting her office.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair as they left, sighing. As much as she liked the two of them, she knew that they wanted to have fun sometimes.

"They better thank me when they get back." She muttered under her breath as she looked for the bottle of sake that was underneath her desk.

Slamming it on to the table, Tsunade let out a hearty laugh as she put the cork between her lips and pulled it off.

"Even if they fool around, they should be able to finish the mission cleanly. I hope that Sakura doesn't break the ship though." Tsunade said before she took a long swig from the bottle and took a glance at the night sky out of her window.

 **-.-**

"I can't believe this! We're going on a cruise!" Sakura excitedly cried as she literally grabbed Shikamaru by the shoulders and shook him. When she let him go, he had a dizzy look on his face.

"We're going on a cruise to stop those thieves. So yes technically we are." Shikamaru replied with a small smile on his face. It had been a while since the both of them had any time to relax.

"I've never gone swimming on a giant ship before! I wonder what that's like?" Sakura asked to herself as the wide smile on her lips only grew.

Shikamaru glanced at her for a moment, his hands in his pockets.

"Don't forget about the main objective of the mission." He said as he saw Sakura roll her eyes.

"Right. See you at the gates tomorrow morning?" The kunoichi said as they both stopped at the intersection they usually parted ways at to get home. They faced each other with the shadows of the setting sun around them.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said with a light laugh. His hand pressed behind his neck as he looked at Sakura who stood there grinning. "See ya."

They both gave each other a slight wave before turning away from each other, heading home.

When Sakura arrived at the gates in the morning in casual clothing, she was surprised to see Shikamaru munching on something. When he saw her, he pulled out a warm bean bun from his pocket and tossed it at her. Catching it, Sakura smiled at the warmth that spread throughout her palms and thanked Shikamaru before taking a bite.

"Let's get going. We might miss our ship for all we know." Shikamaru said as he turned to head out. Sakura jogged after him, the bun in her mouth as she caught up with him.

"Do you get seasick, Shikamaru?" Sakura said after a while. They were on their way to the village with the cruise ship in question.

"I don't think? I haven't been on a boat or anything that moves across the sea in a long time so I can't really remember."

"What, have you been asleep for a thousand years? You've had to have ridden a boat sometime? Please tell me that you've thought about how many people are gonna be on this huge ass boat?"

There was a minute of silence.

"Shikamaru..."

"What?"

"You're kidding me! Were you too focused on the pools, food and fun that you forgot to think about the _people_ that will be there?" Sakura gaped at him in shock, astonished that this was a first.

"Yes, exactly that." Shikamaru replied with a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. Sakura couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or for thinking some weird ass thoughts. He wouldn't meet her bewildered gaze.

The kunoichi let out a soft sigh before giving the strategist a side glance. "Are you gonna be okay? It'll probably be 'troublesome' like you say." Sakura tried imitating the way Shikamaru says his phrase and broke into laughter after failing, seeing her friend splutter in embarrassment.

"W-well, as much as I don't like a lot of people I'll deal with it somehow." Shikamaru grumbled in response, leaving out the "troublesome" unconsciously.

Sakura noticed this and pointed it out, only to chuckle at Shikamaru who dashed off in front of her, his ears turning red.

As the two of them reached the village and began to board the giant ship, Shikamaru could only heave a huge sigh at the sight of the hundreds of people going on board. He shifted closer to Sakura subconsciously and could hear her giggle beside him.

"Come on, don't worry you'll be with me the whole time! Nothing should separate us while we're here." Sakura reassured as she threw Shikamaru a smile, seeing a slight relieved look in his eyes.

"That's good to hear." He replied as he gazed up at the enormity of the cruise ship.

How could anyone hijack such a massive vessel?

 **-.-**

After countless hours of eating, going down water slides, swimming, chatting, and getting tanned, Sakura and Shikamaru lay face down on individual benches. They had towels draped over their backs and a pillow under their heads. Around them was the sound of endless chatter of the other passengers accompanied with the waves and seagulls crying out.

Everyone was having a wonderful time and it wasn't even sunset yet.

Sakura opened her eyes as she woke up from her nap and saw that Shikamaru was drooling on his pillow, an arm dangling over the edge of his bench. Watching him sleep, the kunoichi noticed how toned his arms actually were and caught herself mid-checking-Shikamaru-out.

Blinking away her actions, Sakura tried to place her attention somewhere else like the people or the slides by lying on her back—but her gaze slid back over to Shikamaru's toned body without her permission. She couldn't see how his back looked with the towel but from what she remembered when they went on the slides together and grabbed pool noodles and fought each other with it in the pool—the guy had a hell of a lean body.

Of course Sakura knew that Shikamaru worked out at times, and she knew that he had inherited his leanness from his family line but she hadn't really pay attention to it until now. When she had just woken up from a nap.

Sakura's cheeks warmed at the realization and she pressed her hands to her face at it, groaning internally. It was obvious how everyone would look at Shikamaru like this, especially with his physique, so why couldn't she? Maybe she just hadn't noticed? Had she been oblivious to his damn physique the whole time they've been on missions together?! She wanted to punch her brain in for noticing only now.

"Sakura?"

She jumped at the sound of Shikamaru speaking, her name caught in his drowsy and slightly husky voice. She slid her hands away from her face and turned her head to meet his sleepy gaze.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked, seeing Shikamaru's stare shift from her eyes down to her cheeks and then back again.

"You good? Your cheeks are pink." Shikamaru said with a light smile, a hand coming up to rub the sleep away from his eyes.

Sakura sat up in her bench and pulled on her sunglasses. "Yeah! Just got a little too hot that's all." She replied as she let out a breath, fanning herself.

"Heh I see. Wanna head in and change? We could see what else is around besides the pool, slides and all the food. Maybe do some scouting while we're at it." Shikamaru suggested as he sat up, pulling the towel over his neck.

"Sure, let's go!" Sakura replied as she pulled on her bathrobe.

As they walked across the huge deck, Sakura felt an arm fall around her shoulders and immediately stiffened. Shikamaru wouldn't do something like that. He would've let her know or something at first before doing anything. After the few seconds it took to process, Sakura whirled out of the person's grip to not see Shikamaru anywhere near her. And it looked like the people on deck just doubled the amount.

"You looked a little lost. Do you want us to guide you back to your room?" The person who said it looked foreign, his Japanese was a little clipped as if he only learned it yesterday. The way he dressed made him look wealthy too.

Did he say "us"?

Sakura surveyed the people around her to see some people making eye contact with her, some dressed in casual clothing others in uniforms for the staff.

This can't be. They could've have been caught already!

"No, thank you. I'll be fine on my own." Sakura replied smoothly, giving the man a slight bow before turning on her heel and hightailing it out of there. She didn't wait around to see the man's reaction. All she knew was that they might have already found out about their mission here. But how? How would they have known?

A pair of hands landed on her shoulders as she made her way back to the room and she stopped to see Shikamaru standing in front of her with a plain sea foam tee on. He had a look of confusion in his eyes as he lifted Sakura's sunglasses from her face.

"Hey, where'd you go? I lost you when all the families came out to meet the dolphin mascot out on deck." Shikamaru greeted, his hands pulling away from Sakura's shoulders. He handed her back her sunglasses.

"Shikamaru, I can't shake this feeling that we've been found out." The kunoichi began, meeting his perplexed stare.

When the two of them returned to the room they shared, Sakura finished explaining what had happened as she changed out of her swim suit in the restroom. After a quick shower, she pulled on a vibrant red dress that flowed at the bottom and barely pulled the zipper up. Putting on some light makeup, she tousled her hair a bit and looked at herself for a moment before opening the door.

"Mind helping me out?" She asked as she saw Shikamaru immediately stand when she stepped out. Sakura turned around and lifted her hair, indicating that she needed help with the zipper.

"Yeah. No problem. That's so strange though. How would they have found out?" Shikamaru said behind her as he pulled the zipper the rest of the way up, his fingertips ghosting across her skin.

"Beats me. We should just be on our guard for now. Who knows what could happen." Sakura replied as she grabbed her purse with her weapons inside, pulling it across her body. She grabbed her red heels and slipped them on, standing up to see Shikamaru looking incredibly handsome in the black suit he was in.

It was charming. The tie fitted him more than a bow tie would and the slim fitting pants clung to him.

"You look quite dashing, Shikamaru." Sakura observed with an amused smile, seeing him clear his throat awkwardly.

"Ah, this is nothing. You on the other hand look quite lovely." He replied with a smile.

Sakura beamed at his comment, seeing him also smile wider in response.

"Let's go." He said as he extended an arm.

 **-.-**

It turns out there was a mini dance/formal kind of event just for the parents and couples on board. The kids could tag along, but the event was mostly for couples who didn't have children.

Arriving back on deck with her arm looped through Shikamaru's, Sakura gaped at the sight before her. Fairy lights were everywhere with tables and lit candles. There was a table of snacks and main courses and bottles of unopened wine. With the sun setting in the background, it made out to be a really nice setup.

"Wow," Sakura breathed as Shikamaru led her to one of the tables.

"They sure put in a lot of effort." He said beside her as he unbuttoned his jacket and draped it over a chair. Shikamaru grasped the back of the chair as he gazed down at Sakura who was sitting.

Seeing her stare at everything with marvel, he got a chance to really take her appearance in. Not that he didn't have the time back in the room, but here was nice too. All he could say was that she was unbelievably beautiful. What he said before–lovely–didn't even cover it. That red dress of hers clung to her slim form and although it wasn't revealing, it still left a lot to the imagination.

"Let's grab some food?" Shikamaru suggested, shifting his gaze to the other couples.

"Yep!" Sakura replied as she stood up and grabbed his hand.

She held his hand and dragged him over to the table of delicious aromas.

 **-.-**

"Don't let them out of your sight, got it?" The foreign man ordered as he overlooked the deck. His eyes were set on a couple that was dancing.

"I don't want them messing up this mission." He added as he glanced back at the men he hired, seeing them in the suits. It was unusual to see them in different outfits other than their shinobi ones.

"Split them up if you have to. Just make sure they don't interfere."

"Yes, sir." The shinobi said before heading to their positions.

"Boss, we're ready." One of his henchmen said to him, a remote in his hand. He handed the remote to the man in front of him.

"Good. Let's begin."

And with that, the foreign man pressed the button.

 **-.-**

As Sakura and Shikamaru were dancing, one minute it was slow vibe music, the next it was a mic screaming into the speakers. At the sudden sound, Shikamaru's hands jumped against Sakura's waist and pulled away.

"What in the–" Sakura said as her hands hovered over her ears, her eyes looking above her.

"I think it might be starting." Shikamaru said as the other couples around them began wondering what was happening.

"Attention everyone. There will be a mild intermission."

Sakura lifted her head at the sudden foreign accent, knowing that she'd heard his voice somewhere before.

"For now, please remain to the sides as we get rid of some pesky bugs."

"Bugs?" Shikamaru and Sakura said at the same time, looking at each other.

The next thing they knew, they were being pulled apart from each other. It took a few seconds for Sakura to register what was happening and struggled against the grips around her arms.

The smooth jazz music that suddenly played wasn't helping.

"Get off me!" She barked as she threw a glare at one of the men in uniforms. Sakura slammed a heel into one of their feet, resulting in them crying out in pain. This gave her the chance to slip from his grasp and grip his wrist and throw him over her shoulder.

As she whirled around to meet the other assailant, she froze when the point of a kunai touched her neck, her intense glare meeting the now revealed ninja.

So that's how they found out. They had realized that Sakura and Shikamaru were somehow shinobi as well.

As if encountering other shinobi would keep her from completing the mission.

Pulling back, Sakura ducked under the knife and slammed a palm into the man's stomach, throwing him across the deck. Righting herself, she saw Shikamaru throwing the others guys off of him and was about to go join him when she saw figures make their way over the rails of the ship. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that they were other ninjas, completely garbed in their gear.

Somehow in between the enemies rushing at her, Sakura managed to make eye contact with Shikamaru. They shared a look and nodded to each other, giving each other a signal.

With that, Sakura took off the side of the ship, moving away from the deck with her heels in hand. The ninjas behind her stuck close by, persistent in taking her out.

"Damn, I guess that foreign guy hired them, huh?" Sakura muttered to herself as she turned around and chucked her heels at the ninjas, seeing some of them fall from the force they had hit. "And none of these people suspect at all that the cruise they're on has been officially ruined?" She asked as she dodged a barrage of kunai, rolling on to the wood.

Noticing how her dress provided not much flexibility, Sakura pulled one of the kunai's out of the wood and shot straight for the door that led to the rooms. Moving down the hall, Sakura found the nearest unlocked door and stepped in, shutting it quickly behind her. Holding her breath and masking her chakra, she heard the footsteps of the ninjas come close and then fade out.

Sighing, Sakura bent down and cut the dress, the length now at her knees. She inwardly wept at how much the dress cost her but immediately cast the thought aside. Rescuing this ship from being taken who knows where is much more important than the cost of a stupid dress.

She thought back to the look she shared with Shikamaru and pressed her lips together.

While they were dancing, they had come up with a backup plan in case they were to be separated.

"Should anything like that happen, try to meet back at our room." Shikamaru began, his lips hovering next to Sakura's ear. They were slow dancing, which gave them a good time to talk. "If that can't work, then I'll meet you where the leader of all this is."

Sakura pulled back at his statement to see him with a look of distaste in his brown eyes.

"Not that I like the idea, but I can at least assume that you can make it to him?" he said in a low voice with an eyebrow raised, his height making it that he had to bend his head slightly to meet Sakura's leveled gaze.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Sakura replied as she rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"Just don't break the ship." Shikamaru said, earning him a smack in the arm.

Sakura now scanned her surroundings in the room she slipped in to see that she made it inside a storage room.

"Let's see…now what can I do with these?" she said as a light smile appeared on her lips.

 **-.-**

"You sure are a troublesome bunch." Shikamaru muttered under his breath as he controlled his attackers with their shadows. Thank goodness for the fairy light display.

As soon as he Sakura bolt for it, his first thought was that she would head for their room first. But then another thought stopped him: what if the shinobi were already by their door? That'd be even more of a hassle for the both of them.

So Shikamaru figured that she would try heading for the leader of this whole game.

He tossed a few enemies over the ship with some life preservers with one of the people he was controlling and proceeded to incapacitate the rest of them when another wave of them appeared. Seeing them approach, he sighed heavily and scanned his surroundings.

It would be better just to head straight to the man himself than deal with these guys.

Breaking his Shadow Possession, Shikamaru leaped from the deck and onto the rail of the upper deck, instantly breaking into a run. It's possible that the leading man himself was somewhere in a fancy room, waiting for things to die down while swirling some fancy ass wine in a glass.

But before Shikamaru could even conjure the thought of "is he even a threat?" the door he was heading for literally flew off its hinges and shot his way.

Barely dodging the heavy steel door, Shikamaru looked back at the person who could do such a thing and pressed his lips together at what he saw.

It was a bald man, with muscles larger than Shikamaru's own head. He had on a collared shirt and a blazer but that alone didn't seem to contain the pulsing strength of his muscles…no wait, his entire body. Standing at a staggering height as well, the strategist inwardly sighed at how complicated things just got.

The man before him grinned at the sight of an opponent and cracked his knuckles, making Shikamaru wince. Those could be the sound of his own bones breaking in a few minutes.

"I was told to take care of you." The man said in a deep hearty voice, clearly underestimating Shikamaru as he stood before him.

"Sorry, but do you think I can pass?" Shikamaru began, giving it a shot.

The sound of footsteps behind him alerted him to the other ninjas' presence. He was surrounded.

"No can do, party wrecker." The bald man replied back, clearly seeing that the situation was to his advantage.

Shikamaru hummed under his breath and glanced around him for his shadows when he heard a snap of fingers.

His head shot up when the lights around him blew out and the upper deck descended into darkness.

So much for shadows.

Shikamaru noticed that those around him had night vision goggles on and inwardly cursed, realizing that they probably got the new tech from their employer.

"A precaution I suppose," he mused in a whisper as his mind ran a million miles an hour trying to find a way out of the situation.

"Let's go, boys!" the man in front of him roared as he charged forward in the dark.

Shikamaru thought it couldn't have gotten any worse.

He got caught within a second.

 **-.-**

Sakura pushed the door of the storage room open slightly and peeked out, scanning for any incoming enemies. When she saw that she was clear, she stepped out carrying her makeshift weapons in a bag and shut the door of the storage room softly.

Everything was eerily calm which made her tense up.

Of course there was still the jazz music playing overhead.

But she paid no attention to that.

Instead she walked forward quietly, mulling over what plan of action she should take next. It's possible that Shikamaru had made it back to the room. But it's also possible that he reached the leader of the group. There was also the chance that he got caught, given the numbers that were after the both of them.

Sakura clicked her tongue to herself at the thought of that as she realized she could be completely alone in this operation. Not the best feeling.

She clenched the fabric of the bag tight as she rounded a corner and carefully scanned her surroundings. According to the blueprints she had stumbled upon in the storage room (for some odd reason they were in there), the most likely place the leader of the group would be at one of the bigger rooms. Some place he could patiently sit it out and wait.

With the map of the cruise ship clear in her mind, Sakura created an image of the path she would take and envisioned what the room below her destination would look like.

That's when her makeshift weapons could come into play.

When she came upon the large ballroom, she saw that there was no one in sight. Where were all the civilians? Had they returned to their rooms?

As she approached a table filled with food, the jazz music suddenly stopped and the tone of a bell filled her ears. Perking her head up, she tensed when cameras and other electronic gadgets slid out from the ceiling.

Damn, they had this area bugged!

" _Do not even try to struggle, ninja. I've got your partner here with me and if you move even one step, he'll die. You will come to us by my instruction."_ The foreign clipped voice said over the intercom.

Sakura said nothing as her gaze looked at the cameras that were pointed at her. Instead she unzipped the bag she was holding and grinned, a fire in her emerald eyes.

"Alright." She replied as she gave the cameras a cooperative look.

Then the smirk slid on to her lips.

"Instead…" Sakura trailed off as her hands grabbed the items inside the bag and threw the bag aside.

"…why don't you… _come to me!"_ Sakura yelled as she pushed herself off of the floor and towards the ceiling, the bombs she had created close to detonating.

" _Wait! What are you-"_

Sakura stuck the bombs into the ceiling and fell back just as the lights reached the end of their line. With a grin, Sakura leaped away from the blast as the bombs detonated from the ceiling and those above came crashing down.

The floor beneath her shook as those who fell settled and the smoke began to dissipate. The clump of bodies groaned in unison and slowly picked themselves up off the ground. The blast had gotten rid of the weaker enemies easily. All that was left really was a huge buff man, the foreigner himself, and Shikamaru bound over to the side.

Sending him a flash of a grin, she turned her attention to her opponents when she suddenly realized.

Where were all the other shinobi?

Meeting Shikamaru's wide eyed gaze, Sakura pressed her lips together and bolted towards him just as the wave of ninjas exploded around her. She saw Shikamaru push himself to his feet and look at his surroundings with an overwhelmed look on his face.

How the heck were they going to get out of this one?

Sakura reached Shikamaru and untied him, noticing how battered he looked. His cheek was swelling and by the way he held his torso with one hand, something must've happened there too.

"How the hell are we going to leave now?" Shikamaru said in a low voice, the expression in his eyes clearly agitated.

"All I know is that we have to at least stop _him._ " Sakura growled as her piercing gaze landed on their target. The man behind the hijacking and all.

"How? Look at our situation, Sakura."

"Here's how."

A voice they didn't expect spoke up, making them meet each other's gaze.

"Naruto?" They said at the same time.

"Naruto?" The foreign man and his buddy uttered in confusion.

Suddenly, the huge amount of shinobi surrounding Sakura disappeared into smoke, leaving only a few figures standing.

When she saw who they were, she let out a light laugh.

"I can't believe this!"

Naruto stood on one side with the rest of Team Kakashi beside him. He had that dorky grin on his face. On the other side stood Team Asuma, Ino and Chouji grinning wildly.

"Good thing we made it on time." Kakashi greeted as he met Sakura's and Shikamaru's gazes with a smile.

"What a relief," Shikamaru breathed as he let out a sigh.

 **-.-**

Needless to say, after that ordeal, Shikamaru vowed to never go on a ship ever again.

And with the success of the mission, Sakura and Shikamaru earned a chance to wind down and relax once more. By that, Tsunade made them both run errands for them because "they already had their vacation."

Oh the irony.

* * *

 **So with the sudden change of the title I'd like to ask for suggestions for future missions! If you're all up for that, that is. I actually find writing the missions between Sakura and Shikamaru quite fun and fascinating! So throw me some ideas that you'd like to see!**

 **I'd be happy to pick a few and see how they play out. Thank you for reading!**

 **-FallenWing21**


	3. Mission 3: Post-Infiltration

**Hello everyone! :) I'm glad to be back and writing. Hope you enjoy this one! It's a bit short today.**

* * *

Shikamaru bolted upright to the splash of cold water in his face and spluttered as he took a sweep of his surroundings with a bleary gaze. When he tried to move his hands, he found that they were bounded by chains behind him and that he was in a dirty ass cell.

The person who had woken him wasn't in front of him anymore he noticed, and when he caught the head of pink hair on the opposite wall of him, Shikamaru widened his eyes. From what he could gather, Sakura looked like she was knocked out cold from the way her head was slumped down. Without any warning, the figure in front of Sakura tossed the second bucket of water they were holding on to her head. It splashed on to the stone floor the two of them were sitting on and pooled at Sakura's crossed legs.

What worried Shikamaru was her reaction time. While it took Shikamaru about 2 seconds for him to register to wake up, it took Sakura almost 10 seconds for her to even shift slightly.

When the figure saw that she moved, it turned around with its black hood covering its face and walked out of the cell locking the door behind them.

"Hey, Sakura," Shikamaru tried to get out, after clearing his voice a bit. He was trying to remember how they ended up in the situation they were in. He blinked hard, shaking his head as he was drawing up blanks.

What happened?

Shikamaru tried getting Sakura's attention again when she didn't reply by calling her name louder. Her head shifted to the side along with the twitch of an eyebrow. A groan of pain escaped her lips as her eyebrows furrowed together in pain and recognition. Then she leaned her head back against the wall, eyes still closed.

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked as he gauged her every move with a dart of his eyes. It was a little hard to see in the overhead lighting that they had but he could see dried blood on her uniform.

After a moment, with her eyes still closed, Sakura replied.

"I've never been better." She softly said with a light turn of her lips. Shikamaru chuckled slightly at that.

At least she still had her spirit.

"From…what I can piece together, I think we were assigned on an infiltration mission." Sakura said as she shifted her head forward and let it hang. There, she slowly opened her eyes and had them adjust to the light. Her emerald eyes took in the dried blood along her uniform, her hands instinctively going for it when she realized she was bound to chains behind her.

"An infiltration? Is this an A rank or an S?" Shikamaru inquired, still trying to figure things out.

Before Sakura answered his question, she inwardly examined her own injuries. A dozen bruises and barely bandaged lacerations, bruised ribs, a possibly sprained ankle. It didn't look good. She checked her chakra supply and saw that she barely had enough to heal a bruise. Fantastic.

"Judging based on my injuries, I'd say an A rank." Sakura replied as she met Shikamaru's gaze. He raised an eyebrow at the mention of her injuries.

"That's strange, you're injured yet can remember most of it, but I don't have any injuries yet I can't seem to remember anything that's happened." Shikamaru noted.

"My guess is that we got caught somehow and now we're waiting to see where we end up."

Not only a moment later, were the two of them shoved into a wooden barrel. And where was that wooden barrel going?

Oh, just straight down a raging river. With a huge waterfall at the bottom. Classic.

" _What in the world?!"_ Sakura yelled as she and Shikamaru were whisked away from their captors. She swore she saw one of them wave with a smile as they sent us off.

"Quick, can you move?" Shikamaru said as he tried to shift his body that was pinned underneath Sakura's. "What can you see?"

Sakura gritted her teeth in pain by Shikamaru's movements as her injuries screamed in protest. The pink haired woman glanced down the raging river and saw a thick branch at the side. She leapt at the opportunity, throwing the thought that she was going to be in _extreme pain for grabbing the branch herself_ out of her mind.

"Hold on, there's a branch here. Grab on to me, Shika." She said as she heard Shikamaru remain quiet for a moment.

"Hold on, you're injured why don't I-?" His hand was at Sakura's shoulder.

"There's no time! We're about to be hurled off of a waterfall!" Sakura exclaimed, concern for both of their safety clearly in her voice.

"Move back!" Shikamaru suddenly said, surprising Sakura. Suddenly he was in her face—well next to her face—with his hands in his jutsu position.

"How are you going to-?!"

"Just watch!"

The shadows that he created from the barrel in the water leaped out to one of the trees and wrapped tightly around it.

"I'm not gonna let some damn waterfall be the death of the both of us!" Shikamaru muttered under his breath as he indicated for Sakura to hang on.

As the barrel passed the tree, the shadows that clung to the trunk tightened and the barrel was pulled taut. Shikamaru furrowed a brow as he slowly reeled the both of them in, struggling as his own chakra was depleting. A small gasp from Sakura alerted him that there was a wide eyed look in her eyes. She was staring at something inside the barrel….

"…Shit, Shikamaru wait!"

Before he could react, the barrel around them exploded and Shikamaru was sent hurtling towards the tree, while Sakura slammed back into the water. As he turned around, he saw the remains of a paper bomb on one of the pieces of wood and cursed to himself, searching for his partner.

Sakura's pink head burst from the water gasping, trying to grab on to something as she was sent even faster down the river. Shikamaru bolted for her, running along the edge, trying to think of something _quick because by Kami he was not going to lose her to a freaking water fall._

"Shika…I just remembered!" Sakura called out from the water, a strange look in her emerald eyes.

"What's so important that we have to talk about it now?!" Shikamaru snapped back, his hand grabbing a long branch that was on the side. He tried handing it out to her.

"We infiltrated to _get something._ They never got it back! You have to take it home, Shika!" Sakura quickly said as she threw something in his direction, a pained look appearing on her face.

She was almost at the edge now. The land Shikamaru was running on was getting smaller…

" _What are you doing, Sakura? Grab on!"_ He cried out as he extended the branch for her again. Sakura reached an arm out to grab it, had a hold on it for a good second, enough for Shikamaru to wrap his shadow around her wrist.

With everything he had in him, he pulled her towards him, white hot pain coming from his shoulders from how the sudden weight jerked him to her. Then he had her in his arms. Then they were on the grass, gasping for air for what seemed like ages.

Then he hit her forehead with a flick of his finger, not caring for one second that she was already injured.

"Hey!" She said in an exasperated voice.

"Just why…in the world…would you sacrifice _yourself_ just for the sake of the _mission_?" Shikamaru quietly said. Sakura realized with a blink of her eyes that he was dead serious. She tried to get off of him, but the grip he had on her arms kept her in place.

"I…the first thing that came into my head was about the mission…" Sakura trailed off, still unnerved at seeing her teammate like this.

"Shouldn't your life be more important than a measly mission?! Sakura, who knows if you were going to make it down at the bottom of that waterfall? Who knows if there were rocks down there, or if you would've even been able to survive the fall?" Shikamaru's voice was still quiet but there was an underlying concern in it.

"I might've survived who knows-!"

Sakura suddenly wasn't looking at Shikamaru's face anymore. There was a chin on her shoulder, and a blossoming warmth right in front of her, and strong lean arms wrapped around her. She couldn't move.

…Shikamaru was _hugging_ her. And tightly at that.

"…geez, Sakura." He said with a slightly laugh next to her ear. "If you died, to whom would I tease about being a smartass all the time?"

Sakura couldn't speak. Breathe even. What was _happening_ right now?

All she could do was splutter incoherent words as she felt her cheeks grow extremely warm.

* * *

 **I thought this was cute. Ahh heck, I think all these chapters are cute. Drop me a review with suggestions for a new chapter! I'm up for anything :)**

 **-FallenWing21**


	4. Mission 4: Teammates

**Hello~ It's been a while since I updated hehe. This one's a shorty! Hope ya enjoy and look forward to a new chapter! Leave me some suggestions!**

* * *

"Okay you got that one, right?"

"Yeah, I did that one a few hours ago."

"Alright…"

Ever since their return from infiltration mission and all that happened, Tsunade of course gave the two of them more errands to do together. Shikamaru and Sakura were currently sitting at one of the tables inside the tea shop, checking boxes off a list. This list of many had taken most of the hours out of their day, that they ended up finishing the last ones as the sun was setting in Konoha.

"And that's the last one!" Sakura said with a cheer as she shot up from her seat and stretched.

The expression she gave off that Shikamaru caught was that resembling a cat that just had a nice stretch. Why he saw that, he didn't address. Instead his eyes focused back on the completed list on the table.

"Ugh, my back hurts from going back and forth with those boxes from that scroll place." Shikamaru groaned as he patted the bottom of his back with a closed fist.

"I got a headache from having to listen to that old man drone on and on again about how I wasn't cleaning the floor properly…" Sakura sighed as she rubbed her temples. "We're Jounin already…why does she keep giving us these tasks?"

Shikamaru shrugged as he finished the last of his tea and slammed his payment on to the table, standing.

"Who knows? Let's just go give it to her quickly before she decides to close shop." He replied as he went under the flap lining the entrance, the papers in hand.

Sakura quickly followed him, thanking the owner of the shop as she left. As she slowly caught up to him, she noticed how he was hunched over – probably from that back pain he was talking about—and remembered suddenly that he had hugged her on that last mission. She couldn't exactly remember what happened after that, having passed out from the pain of her injuries. But she did recall that she had been a blushing, sputtering mess as he had softly spoken in her ear.

Why had she done that in the first place? It's not like they hadn't teased each other before. They always had.

So why was this different?

Why had her heart raced?

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't see that Shikamaru had stopped walking and was watching her. So obviously, she ran into him and stumbled, only to have Shikamaru hold on to her arms to steady her.

"Whoa, you good, Sakura?" He chuckled lightly as he gazed down at her, a small smile on his lips.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah don't worry about me." She replied as she became hyper aware of the warm hands that were holding her arms.

"Alright then, troublesome woman." Shikamaru teased with a smirk, resulting in Sakura's dazed expression to shift into slight irritation as she shoved him back with a huff escaping her lips.

Knowing that she wasn't seriously angry, Shikamaru smiled as he caught up to her pace. To just confirm his thoughts that she was fine, he tucked the papers in his vest pocket, shoved his hands in his pockets, and leaned his head down to her height to try and catch her emerald gaze. Catching it within a second, Sakura held his gaze for a bit before darting it off to the side.

"…what?" She quietly inquired as she unconsciously began to furrow her brow in worry. Shikamaru saw this and gave her a shake of his head, a finger reaching up to push the lines between her forehead away.

"You shouldn't worry too much, Sakura. Otherwise this will be here all the time." He noted as his fingertips brushed against the locks of her hair as he pulled his hand away.

"Okay Mr. Worrywart." Sakura teased as she scrunched her nose with a grin. Inside, she was internally screaming at how her heart fluttered when his fingertips brushed her face.

* * *

Tsunade blinked at the completed list that was handed to her, not surprised that they had finished within a few days, but surprised that they stood a bit further away from each other than last time. Behind the paper she smiled, already aware of what was happening between them.

"You've done well guys! I'm quite proud that you finished this early." Tsunade praised as their gazes directed themselves towards her. Oh, man they were gonna have a toughie with this next move.

"Now…missions!"

Sakura and Shikamaru stiffened at this, surprised that they were being given another mission together right off the bat.

"You guys will be on separate missions for a bit. You'll be with your teams for now. I'll give your Captains the details soon." Tsunade took a moment to study their expressions, noting the slight disappointment in them with a quirk of her lips.

"Dismissed." She concluded as she watched them bow to her and exit the room, leaving with a gloomy atmosphere.

* * *

"So I guess this means the end of our little team, huh?" Shikamaru began with a light chuckle, surprised at how it sounded reluctant. He watched as Sakura turned to him with her hands clasped behind her.

"Yeah…" Sakura trailed off as she bit her lip for a moment, gaze pointed towards the ground.

"I wasn't that bad of a teammate I hope."

Her eyes shot up at his words and saw his gaze sheepishly towards the side. His cheeks dusted pink.

"No! No, of course you weren't!" Sakura burst out, surprising Shikamaru into locking his gaze back to hers at her sudden response.

"You were a great teammate, Shikamaru. Perhaps the smartest I've had." She said with a light smile, a hand coming up to run through the bottom locks of her hair. It was a nervous tick she didn't know she had.

Her words made that dust of pink on his cheeks grow deeper as the two of them descended into an grueling awkward silence.

"Well…I guess I can say the same to you...See you around." Shikamaru said after clearing his throat, blinking a bit before glancing at Sakura to see her head down. "Hopefully we'll be on missions together again." He added as he turned, about to leave.

Suddenly a hand grasped his arm.

"…Shikamaru, about that mission…" Her voice was so soft that he had to take a step closer to even catch what she said.

"Hm?"

He felt the hand that held his arm release with a shake and he gazed down at it to see it disappear. Then he felt a body collide with his and suddenly Sakura's arms were around his neck pulling him into a tight hug.

"I'll miss being your teammate." She whispered into his ear after a moment.

Before he could even utter a word, she tore away from him and was dashing down the street.

He stood there in the descending sunset, his shadow cast out in front of him.

* * *

 **Have some fluttery feelings~ Hope this chapter made sense!**

 **-FallenWing21**


	5. Mission 5: Seeing You

**Hi lovelies! Welcome to those that are new to this little fic!**

 **I have returned with a warm fluttery update! :) Enjoy~**

* * *

Now that they were both back in their respective teams, Shikamaru ended up sulking silently during every mission that he went on with Ino and Chouji. Whenever they would ask what was wrong, he would mutter "Nothing," and leave it be. Not only was he disappointed that he'd probably never run into Sakura and her charming personality again, he was frustrated that he couldn't say anything before she took off towards the sunset that day.

When she hugged him tight.

Whispered in his ear.

Only to turn around and bolt across town like the world was ending.

When she had left, Shikamaru had stared after her astonished needing a moment to process what just happened. Then proceeded to heave a sigh into his hands as he bent on his knees.

"Shikamaru, you dope." He had muttered to himself in regret.

After that incident, he only wished to cross paths with the pink force to reckon with. However, he knew that she was an incredibly busy medic, assisting with the Hokage's orders and helping run the hospital.

He'd never get to see her at this rate.

He wanted to hear her laugh that came from the depths of her stomach, booming and loud. He wanted to catch her face light up like the sun as she spotted him approaching. He wanted to ask how her day was going.

He just wanted to see her again for Kami's sake.

* * *

"Sakura, over here!" A nurse called over as she ran past her pushing a gurney with a patient aboard.

"Coming!" Sakura said as she whirled around and followed the gurney, asking for the details of the patient. They ran into the operating room and moved the unconscious body, snipping their clothes for a better look at the injuries.

This is how it was for Sakura when she wasn't on any team missions. Whenever she was free or on the weekends, she'd take shifts at the hospital to help alleviate others who needed a break. Once Tsunade-sama had separated her and Shikamaru, her once less busy life had become chaotically much more hectic.

Whenever her mind suddenly thought of Shikamaru, all she could think about was how she ran away from him after hugging him.

The memory had made her cheeks warm in embarrassment.

She didn't know what to do at that point! She knew she would be have been saddened at the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to see Shikamaru again, but to have gone out and done that?!

What was she thinking?!

She must've been running on pure emotions. That's what it was.

Sakura helped a patient into their bed and wheeled in a cart with materials for their IV bag. Trying not to think about Shikamaru and if she'd ever see him again, she went about with her duties, making sure that everything was running smoothly within the hospital.

As she walked out of the patient's room, she saw Shizune pass her and gave her a wave before hearing her name getting hollered as another patient was rushed in.

She never could get any breathing space within this environment.

* * *

Not like this.

He didn't want to see her again like this.

Lying on a gurney bleeding, arm and leg twisted, and gashes everywhere.

The mission had gone successfully, but at the price of a few injuries within his team. Now they were being taken to the hospital.

It took most of Shikamaru's energy to lift his head to check where his teammates were headed. Seeing that Ino and Chouji were being taken care of, he let out a small sigh of relief, only to wince in pain. The medics around him were speaking to each other in rushed tones, relaying back and forth his current vitals.

It was probably shit now.

The adrenaline had worn off long ago, his injuries flaring in pain across his entire body. The pain alone was almost enough to knock him out, but the one thing that pulled him away from unconsciousness, was the chance to see Sakura, finally.

Which did happen, but only after Shikamaru struggled against the pain one last time and passed out.

* * *

"Ino! Are you okay?!" Sakura rushed to her side on the bed as she had spotted medics finishing up bandaging her.

"I'm fine! It was just a part of the mission. Don't worry," The blonde strained a smile as she grabbed Sakura's hand tightly. "Chouji and Shikamaru are also here by the way. All of us are pretty banged up."

"Oh Kami. Alright, I'll look at the others. I'm glad you're safe," Sakura softly said as she held her friend's hand in both of hers. She didn't acknowledge that she froze for a second when she heard Shikamaru's name.

She opened her eyes when she heard her friend chuckle.

"Man, is he gonna be happy." Ino whispered before she shut her eyes, falling asleep from the exhaustion.

"Who's gonna be happy, Ino?" Sakura whispered, confused. Seeing that she really was asleep, Sakura smiled gently and placed a hand on her head before exiting the room, going to check on Chouji and Shikamaru.

Chouji had already been passed out by the time she peeked in, so he seemed alright.

At the thought of seeing Shikamaru after these few weeks, made her heart race for a moment. Then she shook the fluttery feelings off as she briskly walked over to where Shikamaru was supposed to be.

She was a medic here.

Not some teenager that moved with every flying feeling she had.

Still, she couldn't control how nervous she was when she approached the bed crowded with medics. They were too busy stabilizing his twisted ankle and wrist and surrounding him that she couldn't get a good look at him. But when they turned to her and gave her his chart, they left the room quietly, most likely heading to their next patient.

Shuffling to the bed, she put the chart – that she barely even glanced at – down in the slot and gazed down at the handsome face that seemed to make her heart race to the point she wondered if she was alright. Battered and bruised, Shikamaru's spotless face was patched with bandages, the sunlight kissing his skin. Underneath the thin blanket, she saw that there were bandages wrapped around his torso and chest as well.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, she placed her hands on the railing, relieved that he didn't seem too injured.

"Well, I'm glad I at least got to see you." Sakura smiled to herself as she took in his appearance before beginning to turn away.

"Wait," Came a strained voice from the bed.

She whirled around to see Shikamaru's bleary gaze on her with a tired smile. Sakura rushed back to him, unable to help the grin that reached her lips.

"At least let me see _you_." Shikamaru said hoarsely as his hand tried to reach up and hold her cheek, but to no avail because his hand wouldn't even move.

Sakura let out a chuckle, unable to help how warm her cheeks felt.

"To think I'd meet you again like this," Shikamaru muttered as he glanced away from her, his neck growing hot in embarrassment.

"No, it's fine! It probably wouldn't have happened any other way to be honest." Sakura replied as she pulled up a chair next to the bed.

As she asked how the mission went, her eyes lit up, more than they had in the past few weeks. Sakura literally radiated happiness talking to the strategist, and felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

It was strange what an effect this man had on her.

She was just relieved to get to see him again.

But the moment didn't last long when her name was called to see to another patient and Sakura had to reluctantly say goodbye to Shikamaru.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura. I'll still be here," Shikamaru said with a slightly pained smile.

"Okay," Sakura softly replied before leaving with a wave.

* * *

Going through recovery was usually a tedious task. Moving through the same motions, making sure the joint was working normally.

But Shikamaru was making sure to savor every moment.

Because he was finally in the presence of the pink force that somehow made him feel like he was floating on air. The person who made his mood suddenly get five times better.

It almost made him jump in the air.

All this time, meeting with Sakura, getting his vitals checked and everything, he thought about why he was feeling like this. Sure, he knew about the factors of a relationship – platonic and or romantic – but he never it such deep thought until now.

Physically, her hair was the first thing that caught his eye. It was a soft pink cut and barely touched her shoulders. He had wanted to know what it felt like in between his fingertips when he caught a whiff of her jasmine scented hair. Then he had seen her monstrous strength and nearly keeled over at the sheer power that Sakura could control.

When he had gotten to work with her over the few times their teams interacted, he noticed that she was quite intelligent, taking notes of observations within the missions and coming up with strategies. It had piqued his interest to get to know her more, because all he knew then was a teen who possessed enormous strength but held a kind and gentle heart.

Recently, after spending several missions with her, the way his body just _gravitated_ towards her without knowing it, the way he just wanted to _be with her_ spoke volumes to himself. Shikamaru found a sense of calm being alone most of the time. He got to gaze up at the clouds and spend the day relaxing away when he wasn't with Team Asuma. But ever since he crossed paths with Sakura, he found himself drawn to her, to just talk to her and enjoy her presence.

He would smile to himself whenever he caught her smiling or laughing. He would feel his cheeks warm when she came up to him with a bright cheery grin on her lips. He would mentally scold himself for dreaming about small little outings he'd imagine them both on.

And now as he sat up in his bed reading a book in his free hand with Sakura sitting near him with her eyes closed for a break, he finally concluded.

He, Shikamaru Nara, was in love with Sakura Haruno.

The thought made his face turn so red that he buried his face in his book.


	6. Mission 6: Night

**Hi lovelies! Hope your summer is going well! I feel like this update will start to spur things into motion :D I had fun writing this one! Enjoy!**

* * *

Sakura didn't like this.

" _Sakura, you're here."_ He drawled in her ear in a whisper, making her stomach blossom with butterflies.

"Shut up, Shika." She replied as forcefully as she could, ignoring how he buried his face into her shoulder.

Her pink cheeks said otherwise.

Sakura wanted to ignore it, push away all these tingly sensations that had exploded as soon as Shikamaru approached her.

But he was just _too close right now._

To catch her breath from not breathing in that moment, Sakura placed her hands on Shikamaru's shoulders and pushed him off her, holding him at arm's length.

It was the dead of night, the moon was out, and on any normal day Sakura would have been asleep or comfortable at home reading a book. Instead she was called out by Chouji to come pick up Shikamaru from a little get together they had today. Because Shikamaru was her friend, Sakura out of the goodness of her heart, pulled herself out of her blanket cocoon and braved the night not knowing what was to come.

Of course, what she had to face was a piss drunk Shikamaru. And she had never seen Shikamaru intoxicated before. She didn't think anyone had.

And before she could ask Chouji how this could happen, he gave her a slight bow, a quick "thanks Sakura, goodnight!" and shut the door.

So now she was faced with a predicament she wasn't sure how to deal with. For now, she thought that getting him home would be the best option at this point. With her arms outstretched to his shoulders, she furrowed her brow as she slightly shook him.

"Shika, are you okay? Can you walk?" Sakura asked as she gauged for a reaction. She glanced down at his feet, seeing that he was holding himself up fine.

"…of course, I can Sakura."

At the sudden seriousness of Shikamaru's voice, her head snapped up to meet his brown eyed gaze. His stare seemed to pierce straight through her, leaving her speechless. And he remained like that for a moment – right when she was about to ask if he was alright – when his lips stretched into a smile and he practically collapsed on himself chuckling. Before he could hit the ground, Sakura caught him in her arms, the movement resulting in her shifting closer to him.

Which was the opposite of what she wanted.

Now that her face was as close to Shikamaru's as it'll probably ever be, Sakura caught the length of his eyelashes as well as the sharp bridge of his nose. Before she could stop herself, her gaze trailed down to his jawline noting how sharp it was. And just as she was about to glance at his lips, a warm hand suddenly cupped her cheek, making her stiffen.

" _Sakura~_ You came all this way to see me?" Shikamaru softly said as his bleary grateful gaze clashed with her startled one.

Sakura pulled away with a sharp inhale.

 _He doesn't even seem aware as to what he's doing!_

Sakura at this moment wanted to die. Really. The way this lazy strategist was making her want to fall to her knees made her feel almost crazy and she _really_ didn't want to deal with it at two in the morning.

"Okay, Shika. I'm going to pick you up since you can't seem to walk." Sakura said as she steeled herself, trying to shove away the racing of her heart as she picked up the Nara in her arms. His arms laid in his lap as his head leaned against her shoulder and for the moment as she stared down at him she wondered.

 _Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?!_

"Thanks, Sakura…" Shikamaru murmured, his cheeks still a twinge of red from the alcohol.

"Yeah, no problem. Just remind to kill Chouji in the morning." Sakura growled in return as she readjusted her arms around her friend. "When the hell did you get so heavy?"

A soft whisper came from Shikamaru's lips, but it was too quiet that Sakura didn't catch it.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked as she turned a corner, hoping to Kami that she didn't pass by anyone she knew.

" _I was sad I don't get to see you often…"_ Were the words that was whispered tiredly into her ear.

Almost immediately, Sakura's face warmed to the color of cherries as she started to walk faster towards Shikamaru's house. She wanted him to forget all about this. She wanted him to never find out how much he affected her.

She already knew how she felt about him: warm, confused, and feeling a little bit crazy. But what was she to him? What kind of effect does she have on him?

She'd never want to ask.

As strong as Sakura was, this was the one aspect she could admit she was weak in.

Once she reached Shikamaru's house she wasn't sure what the next step was. Was she supposed to wait for him to sober up? Or was she supposed to leave him plastered on his bed, knocked out?

When she glanced down at Shikamaru, he was already in dream land.

Sighing to herself, she went up to his apartment door and found that it was locked. Setting her friend down, she rummaged through his jacket for his keys in the dark, waiting to hear a jingle of them. When she couldn't find it, Sakura let out a soft huff of frustration, about to break the door down when she heard Shikamaru groan.

"Shika?" she said as she knelt next to him. "Do you know where your keys are?"

"Hm? Oh, here." The Nara sleepily said as he pulled a hand from his pants pocket, revealing his ring of keys.

Taking it from him, Sakura opened the door quietly, hearing it creak open as she stooped down to grab Shikamaru off the ground. "Kami, I can't believe I have to carry you."

"My bad." Came his reply at her shoulder, his voice raspy and tired. He sounded to be sobering up now.

Spotting a couch in the dark, Sakura headed straight for it and gently plopped Shikamaru into it. Taking a seat next to him, Sakura glanced at the a nearby clock she noticed to see that it was nearing three already. "Are you okay now? Do you need any water?"

Shikamaru was slumped on the couch, his hands clasped together in his lap. "No, I'm fine."

Using that as a signal to leave, Sakura was about to stand when a firm soft hand grasped her wrist gently. "Hold on, Sakura." Shikamaru suddenly added, catching her off guard.

"What's up, Shika?" Sakura asked after a moment as she tried to search for his face, only seeing a vague outline of her friend.

Quickly she noticed that they were conversing in the dark. With her wrist in his slender fingers.

"I…I have something to tell you."

Sakura couldn't breathe. She felt Shikamaru's grip squeeze her wrist slightly. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She wanted to go home. She wanted to –

"I wasn't drunk."

* * *

 **:) Let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Mission 7: Night Pt 2

**Hi everyone! It's been a really long time huh? But not to worry! I have returned! I hope you guys are still out there!**

* * *

"What do you mean you weren't drunk?" Sakura asked after a pause, her voice soft.

Shikamaru didn't know what do. Before he knew it, instead of saying _that_ to her, he had said _that_ instead. With just a tiny slip up, the result was painfully obvious - a confused and slightly hurt looking Sakura sitting beside him. His gaze broke away from hers and cast down to the space between them where his hand was still holding her wrist. Slowly pulling his hand away from Sakura's, he laced his hands together loosely in his lap.

"I..." he trailed off hesitantly. He already knew what this sounded like and he hated it.

"You, what? Did you trick me just so I could bring you back to your apartment? Or did you just say that just because?" Sakura said as she crossed her arms in front of her, head tilted to the side. The slow growing burn in her eyes was staring into Shikamaru's own so intensely that if he weren't such good friends with the kunoichi, he might've just backed away right then and there.

But Sakura was a good friend of his and he could not let this mistake of his damage what they had.

"Okay, I was actually slightly drunk. I don't know why I lied, Sakura."

"Oh, so were you just too _lazy_ t _o_ walk home by yourself then?"

Shikamaru blinked once and froze for a moment. Recognizing the tone of Sakura's voice, he raised his gaze from the floor he didn't realize he lowered and stiffened.

Her amused expression stared back at him with the pale moonlight surrounding her, a snicker escaping between her lips.

"Did you want my sweet company, Shika? You could've just asked." Sakura teased as she leaned back and let out a chuckle, a hand against her mouth.

At the sight of Sakura _not_ storming out of his apartment like he had thought, the cold grip around his heart released as relief coursed through him. The tension in his muscles relaxed as he leaned back against the armrest of the couch.

"No, I would've been perfectly fine. I just wouldn't have wanted to get robbed on my own." He quipped back as he could feel a small teasing smirk on his lips. Sakura's gaze widened as she let out an amused scoff.

" _What?!_ You would've had me carry you _and_ fend off a robber while you flopped around like some fish?!" She exclaimed as she stood up, let out a sigh and dramatically placed a hand to her forehead. "The things I do for you, I swear."

Shikamaru chuckled as he pulled himself up, careful to be wary of his balance. He wandered over to his kitchen and flicked on the light when he bumped into the counter and stumbled into his fridge, earning a snort from Sakura. Opening the fridge, the cold air that greeted him cleared his slightly hazy mind for a moment, heaving a long sigh through his nose in reponse.

"Tough day?" Sakura greeted from behind him, her voice closer than when he had heard her snicker.

"What?" Shikamaru grabbed the water filter from the bottom shelf and pulled himself up, shutting the fridge as he did so.

Sakura was leaning against a counter, arms crossed as she tilted her head to the side curiously. As he reached for a glass, Sakura appeared at his side and took it for him, Shikamaru nodding in thanks.

"That sigh you just did made you seem tired. And now that I look at you, you _look_ tired as well. Are you alright, Shika?" She said as he poured himself a glass.

Shikamaru hmmed as he lifted his glass, meeting Sakura's concerned gaze. In that one moment, a flit of possible scenarios that could've happened under different circumstances wandered through his head, making him almost choke on his water. He could practically _feel_ his cheeks turn red as he turned away from her.

Not _now_ , Shikamaru.

"I'm doing okay. We're shinobi. We don't know the concept of sleep." Shikamaru finally replied as a small smile stretched across his lips. He set the glass down and glanced at Sakura to see a hesitant look on her face before it slipped away.

"Speaking of sleep, we've definitely lost a few hours by now." Sakura said as she began to make her way to the door, a hand behind her neck.

Shikamaru followed after her, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me back here." He was met with a glare to which he snickered at.

"You _owe me_ , Nara." Sakura said as she slipped on her shoes, glancing up at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you need, troublesome as it is." He replied as he scratched the side of his cheek. As Sakura stood up, Shikamaru opened the door for her.

With a roll of her eyes, Sakura grinned at him and was about to leave when she paused for a moment. Shikamaru caught this and was about to ask what was wrong when her hand reached out and pulled his keys out of the lock of his door.

"Oh, right." He said with an embarrassed scoff, a hand open for her to drop it in.

As Sakura placed his keys in his hand, he did not expect her to shift forward and wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him close. He almost choked on air as his whole body melted against hers in immediate response, embarrassed and unsure of how she would interpret it. His hands were frozen in mid-air, hesitant of what to do and when he was about to ask what she was doing, her hand _moved._ He came to realize that it was comforting gesture.

"I hope you and Chouji feel better soon." Sakura softly said.

Shikamaru blinked in gradual realization as snippets of chatting with Chouji about Asuma flitted through his mind.

"Oh." Shikamaru quietly said as his hands rested against Sakura's back lightly.

He suddenly remembered why he didn't want to go home alone.

It was Asuma's death anniversary.


	8. Mission 8: A Feeling

**Hello lovelies! I'm back with another update! :D This one is _slightly_ more serious than the others as we're picking up the pace now! Enjoy~ **

* * *

"Sakura?" Shikamaru whispered in disbelief as he stared down at the body that lay in the hospital bed. He could hardly recognize her under all of the bandaging, not to mention how pale she looked lying there under the white sheets.

He had been aware that Sakura went out on an A-ranked mission and had only returned a few days ago. In what state, he never got to find out. Not until Tsunade personally had someone find him and take his confused self to the hospital, only to have it shift into pure shock.

The two out of the three man cell had returned with a bloodied, nearly mutilated Sakura in her arms as she screamed for help. That was what Tsunade had said when he asked about it.

 _"If she had been here later..."_ Tsunade hesitated as she swallowed thickly, eyes blinking hard. _"...we would've lost her."_ She let out a shaky sigh full of relief as she pressed her hands into her eyes.

 _"Bless Kami her fighting spirit is so damn strong."_

"Since when did you lie down for so long? Aren't you a medic?" Shikamaru softly said as he tried to humor himself, failing miserably. His hands were in fists at his sides as he stood next to the bed, his heart aching horribly.

He understood that the lifestyle of a shinobi was extremely dangerous - that once you leave those gates there is always that _hint_ of a possibility that they might not make it back.

Shikamaru knew that. And yet when he would say goodbye to Sakura for a mission, why did he oh so badly just want to wrap his arms around her and never let her go? To just sometimes pretend that they weren't shinobi, used as tools and weapons for a bigger purpose, and instead pretend they were normal civilians living a carefree lifestyle?

Oh that's right. Because he was in love with her. Madly, at that.

As he glanced down at Sakura's bandaged hand, he felt his eyes begin to water and out of impulse pressed his lips together. His hand moved on its own as it gently grasped Sakura's bandaged one, giving it a small squeeze. His heart hurt when he felt how cold her hands were and sat in the chair next to her with a frown.

What were her thoughts before she slipped into unconsciousness? What did she think about when the possibility of dying had occured to her?

He tried to wrack his brain for answers that only she could say.

The deafening silence in the room was broken as Shikamaru let out a choked gasp when he felt a faint twitch of Sakura's fingers. His eyes shot up to her bandaged face that slowly showed signs of waking. With a slight turn of her head, a furrowed brow, and her eyes slowly opening, Sakura gradually woke.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru softly uttered as he leaned closer to her, his hand still in hers. He couldn't believe his eyes. He thought she would still be asleep for a week.

Her dull emerald eyes slid over to meet his, the brightness that Shikamaru absolutely adored gradually appearing again.

He blinked in shock when Sakura's eyes began to water and gaped when she squeezed Shikamaru's hand. As she squeezed her eyes shut, the tears streaked down her cheeks.

"I...I never thought I'd see you again..." Sakura whispered as she opened her teary eyes to meet Shikamaru's.

The look that he saw in them was relief, gratitude and a hint of something he couldn't put his finger on. But the effect that it had on him was colossal. His heart felt like it was going to burst from how full it felt.

He carefully put a hand behind her head and leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers gently. He caught her close her eyes as she melted into his touch.

"Me too." Shikamaru replied softly, his lips tugging on a smile as he saw Sakura do the same.

* * *

"Shikamaru, you have _got_ to make a move soon! You can't keep her waiting forever!"

The Nara choked on his ramen at Chouji's outburst, sent into a coughing fit at Ichiraku's. They had met up for dinner after Shikamaru had left to let Sakura rest. When Chouji asked where he was before arriving, he had replied where, and thus the outburst.

"I'm serious Shikamaru," Chouji continued as the Nara composed himself with sips of water. "I can see the way she looks at you sometimes. And I bet you're the same."

He could feel the back of his neck heat up at his friend's observation. Had he been obvious about it the entire time? Shikamaru gave a side glance to his best friend, a wary look in his eye.

"I don't know..." he trailed off as he gazed down at his bowl of ramen, hearing a sharp sigh from his friend.

"Come on, exactly _what_ have you got to lose if you go through it?" Chouji tried reasoning which earned him a scoff.

"Everything. I've thought about _everything_ that could go wrong if I ever told her. Every minute detail." Shikamaru replied with a sad smile on his face. "It's just wishful thinking on my part."

There was a beat of silence. Then a hand clasped his shoulder firmly, shaking it slightly.

"Man, for a genius strategist you are completely out of it today. Listen to me, Sakura returned to Konoha only a few days ago in a _horrible state_. You know what you felt when you were at the hospital, right? That terrible stab to your heart when you think about the chance of never seeing her again."

Shikamaru blinked as his friend lectured him. It wasn't hard to understand what Chouji was trying to say.

"Focus on that _feeling_ , Shikamaru. You just need a simple push," Chouji chuckled to himself. "Too bad it's ending up as a shove from me."

* * *

Sakura hissed in pain as Tsunade carefully reapplied the bandages around her arms and waist, her mentor's arm having brushed against a still particularly raw spot. Tsunade's hazel eyes shot up to meet hers in shock, her eyes creasing as she gave her an apologetic smile.

"You didn't have to, Shishou." Sakura quietly said as Tsunade pulled away and took a seat next to her. The pink haired kunoichi turned her bandaged head to meet her mentor's questioning gaze. "Bandage me, I mean. Don't you have paper work to do?"

Sakura pulled her lips into a exhausted grin as she saw her mentor roll her eyes. Tsunade put a hand on her arm warmly, rubbing it slightly. The pinkette noticed that there was a deep look of relief and fondness in her eyes and felt her heart soar.

"You did well, Sakura. I couldn't have been more proud of you as your teacher. You returned to us." Tsunade softly said as she flicked away a tear that was forming in her eyes.

At the sight of her mentor getting emotional, Sakura couldn't help but smile. It was rare for Tsunade to show much emotion to her other than annoyance, anger, pride. Tsunade glanced at the clock at the far end of the wall after a few moments and let out a soft sigh, making a move to stand.

"Haru from your three man cell has already given me the report from the mission. Since you were asleep for a few days, you had missed Gin's funeral service. I thought I would let you know." Tsunade uttered after a hesitating for a moment, glancing to the side to meet Sakura's gaze.

Sakura nodded mutely, her mind still trying to wrap around the fact that she was _alive_ from that mission in the first place.

"Get some rest, Sakura. Good night." Her mentor warmly said as she gave Sakura a wide tired smile, making her way to the door.

"Good night, Shishou." Sakura whispered when she heard the door shut away from her.

As the sound of the ticking clock became her only company, Sakura relished in the silence, her eyes closed as she let out a long weary sigh. She was lucky eto be alive. That mission...everything had gone awry in only a few seconds. Right when everything had been completed and they were all set to return to Konoha. But then shit hit the fan, and everything had gone dark.

Her mind wandered back to earlier today, when her friends began to pop in and out of the room. Albeit she felt overwhelmed by the sudden attention, Sakura had nevertheless felt more gratitude to be breathing the same air as them. Naruto had been concerned, asking how she was. Sasuke didn't say too much like usual, however he quipped a few phrases in there such as "Get better soon." which was still a rare occurrence. Kakashi had given her his trademark soft pat on the head - as some sort of welcome back? Sakura assumed, as well as his relieved eye smile. Tenten and Ino had come in next after the three, eyes red and only brimming with more tears as they neared her. Only to give her an almost bone crushing hug out of relief as they cried into her shoulders, prompting Sakura to also let a few tears loose.

In all of those moments, Sakura had never felt more grateful to be breathing than when she had opened her eyes to see Shikamaru beside her.

Her heart had practically _soared_ when he had touched his forehead against hers. Sakura quietly giggled to herself as she felt her cheeks warm, the fluttering feeling in her stomach when Shikamaru had done that returning all at once. She remembered the feeling of his hand at the back of her head - warm and light. And the _gaze_ he was giving her, oh Kami it was too good. If anyone had come into the room at the moment, they would've seen a bandaged kunoichi with a face as red as a beet.

After a moment of calming herself down, her thoughts had wandered into a serious part of her mind. They were the thoughts she had when she felt the grip of death reaching for her. Right before she lost herself to the darkness and remembered nothing of reaching Konoha.

 _How would her parents react to her death? Would they be utterly destroyed? What about Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi? What would they have done? And Shishou? Would she have had someone sent to find who had done it to her? What about...Shikamaru? Would he have collapsed at the thought of never seeing her again? Would he have been consumed in anger, hoping for revenge? Would he have..._

Sakura shook herself out of her stupor, unperturbed by her own thoughts. Instead one prominent idea remained.

 _Shikamaru..._

"Of all the things..." She whispered to herself, a small smile on her lips.

She knew what she felt for him was real. So _incredibly_ real that she sometimes had to control herself from doing something completely irrational just because she was near him. Sakura wanted to hug him. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck real tight and savor the warmth. She wanted to talk to him, tell him she missed him. She wanted to laugh with him, play shogi, tease him.

To _be_ with him at this moment.

Over these past few months of getting to know Shikamaru, she always had this gut feeling that there was _something_ between them. Something she could only describe as...a pull. An aching need to just be in the same room with him. To do anything and everything for the man.

"Anything...and everything?" Sakura said to herself as she bit her lip, making the connection. A bright smile stretched across her lips as she felt her heart race, making the butterflies in her stomach explode. If she could smack her head in her sudden realization she would have as she let out a light laugh to no one in particular.

"Oh Kami...I'm in love with Shikamaru."

* * *

 **And there we have it~ I know this story has been going on a while now, but I've been thinking of wrapping it up soon, now that our two main's have finally realized their feelings :) Hope you all are chill with that! I know it'll definitely be bittersweet.**

 **Thanks for reading this!**


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